The Rubik´s Cube Business Plan

A correct business plan is a powerful communication tool, and it must be consistent across all functions of the enterprise. For me, it is like a Rubik´s cube, dynamic, with different views, but consistent. This "One Plan for the Enterprise" should contain the same data, interpreted in different ways depending on the business function:

For example, the Sales View of the plan will contain the number of units or volume that will be sold by Region or Sales Office, the money that it represents compared against the budget, the Sales Supervisor point of view, etc. However, such number must be consistent with the Supply Chain view of the plan, and for the Supply Chain department those figures are converted into cases or units to be shipped, inventory levels, etc. Both (Sales and Supply Chain) must be aware of the new product introduction from the Category/Product Department and the promos and campaign created by Marketing. Finance has to have the complete picture of the plan to see the effect on revenues and profitability of the different actions taken by every part of the business.

However, what really happens is that every single function has its own view of the plan, not-consistent or partially consistent with the other views.

There are two key cross-function capabilities that help the company to create a well built cube: the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Sales and Operations Planning (currently known as S&OP). Implementing a good S&OP without PLM will create a plan that works for the current SKUs but works poorly for the new products or obsolete products. Using a good PLM without S&OP derives in high stocks or poor service levels to the client.